Soldier From Livermore Dies of Rabies

A U.S. soldier has died of rabies believed to have been contracted during service overseas.

Officials at the northern New York Fort Drum Army base said Spc. Kevin R. Shumaker died on Wednesday. He was stateside at the time of his death and died in a New York hospital.

The Watertown Daily Times cited a source that said Shumaker had been biten by a dog while in Afghanistan.

According to a statement from the military, the decorated 24-year-old soldier from Livermore, was from the 10th Mountain Division. He was an Army cook, and was deployed with the 615th Military Police Company in Afghanistan for a year that ended in May.

Exactly how and where he contracted the illness is still officially under investigation, but military officials say he did not get the rabies in the state of New York.

The release from the military said he was diagnosed with rabies on Aug. 19.  The local paper said Shumaker had just arrive at Fort Drum when he got sick.

The Center for Disease Control also issued a release that said the public should not be alarmed by the diagnosis, pointing to the probability he contact the disease while overseas.

Shumaker is survived by his mother and stepfather.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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